The 6th Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival March 1999 19th Century French Romanticism Faure: Piano Quartet in G minor, Opus 45 Chausson: Piano Quartet in A Major, Opus 30

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Faure (1845-1924) wrote his Opus 45 piano Quartet in 1886, the same year he composed his masterful Requiem. Although in his earlier chamber works Faure had closely followed classical French models of form and harmony, in Opus 45 the outlines are romantically bold, and discords unexpected. The dramatic and fervent first movement develops three distinct themes, the first associated with the sounds of a forge heard during his youth. During the recapitulation, the mode changes from minor to major, a technique Faure would repeat in subsequent works. The scherzo second movement is a true play with notes-meter changes from 6/8 to 2/4 to 3/4, creating subtly different accent patterns under the melody, which is a broad restatement of the main theme of the first movement. The Adagio non troppo, one of Faure’s most poetic movements, begins with a viola solo accompanied by bell-like peals from the piano, reminiscent of evening bells he had heard during his childhood. The impetuous finale, Allegro molto, returns to the same G minor-to-G Major harmonic scheme heard in the opening movement. As in the scherzo, the driving rhythm is further enlivened through alteration of duplet and triplet rhythm patterns.

During his tragically brilliant career, Parisian composer Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) created six chamber compositions, works of refined lyrical poetry that are significant contributions to the repertoire. Although Chausson’s music reflects the lush late romantic textures of Franck and the impressionistic harmonic gestures of Debussy, his works develop in their individual atmosphere of passionate reverie.

Opus 30 (1897) blends serene classicism with rhapsodic lyricism. The first movement, animated by alternating rhythm patterns, develops two pentatonic themes. The Andante explores two eloquent ideas that are alternately calm and touched with pathos. The third movement, "simple and without haste, is a light and elegant scherzo based on a melody suggesting Spanish folksong. The finale, remarkable in its rhythmic flexibility, transforms the second theme of the first movement to create a cyclic form.

FESTIVAL MUSICIANS

Benny Kim, Violinist, is winner of several prestigious awards, including the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1983. The Washington Post writes that "his technique was dazzling; his emotional depth and style touch the peak of romantic playing." In addition to performing with many leading American orchestras, including the Chicago and St. Louis Symphonies, he maintains a busy solo, recital, and chamber music career across the U.S. Mr. Kim has participated in international music festivals, such as Interlochen, Aspen, Marlboro, Vancouver, BRAVO! Colorado, Cape Cod, the Grand Canyon, Dubrovnik, and France. He is a graduate of Juilliard and teaches violin at the University of Missouri/ Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

Paul Neubauer, Violist, has been a musician of note since becoming the youngest principal string player in the New York Philharmonic at age 21. In six years with that orchestra he appeared as soloist more than 20 times. He has since gone on to play with other leading orchestras, including those of Los Angeles, Rochester, San Francisco, St. Louis, Bavarian State Radio, and the English Chamber Orchestra. Other collaborations have included performances with musicians such as Andre Watts, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zucherman, James Galway, and Alicia de Larrocha. In addition to numerous recital and festival appearances, he has been seen on PBS, CBS, Live from Lincoln Center telecasts and heard on A Prairie Home Companion and NPR’s Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday Morning. Awards include First Prizes in the Whitaker, D’Angelo, and Lionel Tertis International Viola Competitions. He was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant and is an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A graduate of Juilliard where he teaches now, Mr. Neubauer has recorded for RCA, Sony Classical, Koch, Delos, and New World.

Peter Rejto, Artistic Director and Cellist, has appeared throughout the U.S. and abroad in hundreds of performances as soloist, and with the Los Angeles Piano Quartet of which he is a founding member. His 1996 recording of the concertos of Gerard Schurmann and Miklos Rozsa with the Pecs Hungarian Symphony was greeted with great critical acclaim. Fanfare writes of this recording, "Some of the best cello playing I have heard. A full rich tone Rejto has in spades…(with a) deep understanding and a broad vision of these compositions musically and emotionally." Mr. Rejto has appeared at the summer festivals of Aspen, La Jolla, Round Top, Carmel Bach, Marlboro, Fairbanks, Sitka, Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, and BRAVO! Colorado. His many honors include winning the Young Concert Artists International Competition, and the Debut Award of the Young Musicians Foundation, Los Angeles. Currently Professor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory, Mr. Rejto performs on a Dominicus Montagnana, made in Venice in 1721. He has recorded for Silva Classics, Summit, Music Masters, and Pickwick.

Ralph Votapek, Pianist, captured international attention after receiving the prestigious Naumburg Award in 1959 and the Gold Medal at the First Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1962. The Chicago Tribune writes that Mr. Votapek "dares to be different, reaches the sublime, (is) impassioned, dramatic and thoroughly engaging." A graduate of Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, Mr. Votapek is currently Artist-in-Residence at Michigan State University and concertizes extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He has been a guest on chamber concerts of the Juilliard, Fine Arts, and New World String Quartets. Mr. Votapek has recorded for RCA, London, Ivory Classics, Cambridge, CRI, Music and ‘Arts, and Pickwick labels.

Anne-Marie McDermott, Pianist, is one of the major talents of her generation. Since winning the 1983 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 1987 Avery Fisher Career Development Award, her career has been varied and well traveled. She has performed in recital and as concerto soloist at Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. Appearances as a soloist with major symphonies include those of St. Louis, Baltimore, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Columbus, New Mexico, Phoenix and Seattle. As a chamber musician she has been a featured artist at festivals around the world-Mostly Mozart, Festival Casals, Spoleto, Dubrovnik, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, BRAVO! Colorado, and others. She is an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a member of the McDermott Trio, along with her sisters Maureen and Kerry.

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